Issue # 8 Mar 2010
Music Matters magazine
part 1
Metaverse Live Music Publication
Second Life速 music history
The Rose Theatre Blues Artist Casias Falta
3 Open Mic Mic Open Directory Directory
Editor's Note Greetings, and welcome to another issue of Music Matters Magazine. In addition to the columns our regular readers have come to expect, this issue has the first part of a series on the history of music in Second Life速. If you have been in SL for a long time, it will be a trip down memory lane. If you are new to SL, this will tell you where it all started and how the SL music scene has grown and evolved over the years. Going from the past to the present, our featured venue this month is The Rose Theatre. It is not only a place for music, but it is a building, and surrounding grounds, that are well worth a visit. Until next time, I will leave you to your travels in time and space as you read these, and the other articles, in this months issue.
Impressum Editor Andrew Hellershanks Assistant Editor Shannon Oherlihy Art, Layout & Design Kaela Kilara Sales & Distribution Reslez Publisher Pat Insoo
Contributors Bibi Ballinger, Case Munro, Katydid Something, Kourosh Eusebio, Shellie Sands, Sherry Sheperd, Stiofainx Rau
Table of Contents // Issue 8 // Mar 2010
The Rose Theatre Live entertainment and much more
Nuts & Bolts Putting some business in your show
Second Life速 Music History Breaking new ground
Advertisers Index FCMC Radio Gaja Streams Kaelaidoscope.nice things Lemon Lady Records MOM
Mp3 By Me Stream Team The Originals The Pond UWA
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Clic
Blues Artist Casias Falta True to the blues
Feeling for Music Let the music move you
UWA Challenge Creative independents meet creative challenge
Open Mic Directory
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Pi the
The Rose Theatre — Live Entertainment and much more by Sherry Sheperd
By Sherrie Sheperd
The Rose Theatre, Angel Manor, is a masterpiece of immersive design housing the most exquisite entertainment venues for Second Life residents to enjoy.
Creator of The Rose, Kaya Angel, has poured his heart and soul into this labour of love Creator of The Rose, Kaya Angel, has poured his heart and soul into this labour of love providing an elegant Ballroom/Theatre where popular SL entertainers like Melodee McDonnell and Elvera Lerner have graced the stage to packed audiences in an atmosphere of class and beauty. The equally magnificent Opera House has staged productions like The Phantom of the Opera for enthusiastic SL fans. The cinema theatre resident within the build has to be the most luxurious cinema found in the entire metaverse.
Recently Angel, along with performer and Hall of Famer herself Lerner, have taken over the SL Music Hall of Fame and hold the Hall of Fame Award shows at The Rose. These events honour the monthly winners of the award who are voted into the Hall of Fame by SL’s residents. They are gala events that include live entertainment and dancing in the elegant ballroom of The Rose. Coming soon to The Rose are two extravaganzas. The Best of the Musical Showcase will be
presented at the Theatre and compiles the best songs from the last four musical shows performed by Lerner. Currently in rehearsal for presentation in the Opera House is the classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show� with all singing performances live by the cast. In addition to the staged events, Angel sponsors many social events.
Guests to recent events like the Garden Party Prom, on the stunning garden grounds of the venue, and the Bonfire Night were delighted to enjoy the live entertainment provided by artists like Lerner. After several years of involvement in another virtual world, Angel ventured into SL along with his long time friend, Eponie Angel.
The stunning stage and lighting effects, which have become a trademark of The Rose, are probably the best one would ever see in a virtual world
He realized that the limitations of the other world prevented him from taking the endeavour any further. Of his venture into SL he said, “In a very short space of time we really started to see the value of SL. To me, SL was raw humanity in the most creative media I had ever come across. Finding a place that was so open and creative really excited us. Here we were in SL with
an open canvas and like many others did not know what to do. We knew the best way to learn was to jump right in and start experimenting.� In terms of inspiration, Angel says of the build, there were a number of RL buildings that inspired The Rose, however, what he really attributes this achievement to is more motivation rather than
inspiration. He explains what he means by motivation,“The greatest push for me has been the motivation provided by the wonderful people who are also part of the building. The original team of people who started the very first build were myself, Eponie Angel, Kezzy Forwzy, and Elvera Lerner. While I built The Rose on my own, these three people have played a massive role in providing the motivation to build and expand making The Rose Theatre what it is today. I know I would not have been as driven to keep on building without these people. I think the strongest form of both inspiration and motivation
are other people around you. The friendships and connections of all the people I‘ve met along the way and all the people that have shown wonderful support for The Rose are the glue that holds all those prims together and brings the building to life.” In RL, Angel is a professional lighting designer and has worked in theatres across the UK. His day to day duties involve working with artists and clients to provide them with a lighting design that enhances their performance or event. It was natural then for him to turn to the production of shows at The Rose.
The stage designs of both The Rose’s Ballroom/Theatre and the Opera House are the result of his keen sense of functionality coupled with elegant design. The stunning stage and lighting effects, which have become a trademark of The Rose, are probably the best one would ever see in a virtual world. This in itself gives evidence to Angel’s RL talent and expertise. Angel admits to making many mistakes before he perfected being able to move the huge sets just as RL sets move and with lighting that changes along with the emotion
I think the strongest form of both inspiration and motivation are other people around you
12
He wants every performance at The Rose to be not only an audible treat but a visual one as well. of any song or performance. He explains, “It all took a long time to perfect and get right. As each performance became more professional looking and feeling, our group and audience started to see that we were pushing the boundaries of what can be done within SL. As well as improving our performance and presentation, I also worked hard on improving the theatre build itself. I’ve always wanted people to feel as if they are in a real theatre and since I come from a gaming background,
I really wanted to build a place that was immersive. By immersive I mean I did not want the person to experience the venue through their avatar but I wanted the person to be pulled into the venue and, experience it as if they were there themselves.� Angel runs The Rose as a non-profit operation and has no adjacent
commercial area for shopping as most venues do. Explaining his reasoning, he said,“I did not want to go down that route because too many times I’ve gone to a sim that sounded interesting to explore only to find little of interest and more in the way of shopping areas. I genuinely wanted to create a place that people could just enjoy and am fortunate enough to fund The Rose
personally.” The exception to this is his fine furniture store within the build, present for the sole purpose of providing funding to pay the artists who perform at the venue. Angel emphasizes,“I am happy to pay for the sim myself because the reward of seeing people enjoy themselves on the sim is a massive personal reward for me and worth every penny I put into SL.”
Angel invites SLers to visit The Rose and hopes that they enjoy themselves with great entertainment in a warm and welcoming environment. He wants people to feel free to explore the building. Also, when they attend a performance, he wants them to see firsthand that he has pushed the limits on visual presentation. He wants every performance at The Rose to be not only an audible treat but a visual one as well. He goes on to say,“The venue is here to promote performance within virtual environments and we also offer
the free use of performance spaces for anyone wanting to put on a performance/production. We also have free exhibition space for artists wanting to exhibit their work. We make as much as we can free to the public to help support and promote the arts within SL.� To find a schedule of events, or to obtain more information on The Rose, go to http://www.impl.org. uk/. A video tour of The Rose can be found on their home page.
Who’s going to handle s stream URLs in the land it’s time to play? Promote the venue and other performers during your set.
Say “hi” to as many people as you can
Nuts and Bolts putting some business in your show by Case Munro
switching when
of show business, and the word we’re studying today boys and girls is show, because if you ain’t got no show, you ain’t got no business.
Playing in SL is a unique experience somewhere between doing radio and playing in a nightclub. Like radio, it’s a slightly sterile experience, alone in a sound dampened room with nothing but intentions and a microphone. Like a nightclub, there’s a feedback loop with the audience. Do something good, or bad, and they react. Either way, when you start engaging in the “Hey! Look at me” you’ve entered the soul destroying world
Now, before I get started, to all the folks that are saying “hey man, screw show business. I am all about the music.”, oh yeah? Well if you were all about the music you’d be playing in your bedroom by yourself, but, no, you had to get a microphone and figure out Shoutcast. So, guess what? It’s just a little bit about your ego too. Now, pipe down and listen up. This is like your vegetables. Choke down what you can and cram the rest into the back of your chair. When you get up in front of another person to play a song you’ve entered a contract. For your part, you are going to perform as best
you can, try and entertain the other person, and respect that they are giving you a few minutes of their time and attention (entertainment value being an ‘eye of the beholder’ kind of thing). In other words, act like a professional. Then, if you do end up getting pelted with overripe vegetables, at least you know that you lived up to your end of the
bargain — once you get the tomatoes out of your hair. I’ve been there. But, I digress. Here are a few tips on how to make your show go as smoothly as possible. Most of these have been learned the hard way by doing the opposite over hundreds of SL performances. I never pretended to be smart.
Before the show Get all the detail stuff out of Go to the sim and actually
the way.
Are there lights that are go
look at the setup. ing to make it hard to rez st
uff?
Does the landmark actually go to the venue or to a mal l on the other side of the sim? Who’s going to handle switc hing stream URLs in the land when it’s time to play? Get tags sorted out. Get listings … uh … listed. If you can, rez your stuff as a test in advance so you do n’t find out in the frantic minutes before showtime that you’re 100 pr ims over the limit.
Leading into the show e Are you using your own stream? Pick it up early and play som and recorded music. Not only can you set the mood but you’re up ses. running, all nice and buffered and ready to entertain the mas utcast Here’s a tip I don’t know how I lived without. Watch the Sho . status screen in a web browser to see when you have listeners plug This is assuming you are using a Shoutcast server, but if you er the server URL into a browser window you can see if the serv lly is up and how many listeners are on the stream. This is especia p handy for multi-artist shows using the same stream. Just kee am hitting F5 to refresh the browser window, and when the stre drops you can grab it. This not only eliminates long lag times between performer with streaming, but it also means you don’t have to start every set are “Is this on? Can you guys hear me? Hello?”. Trust me, if you , connected and you see listeners in the browser status window rce they can hear you. Unless, like me, you forget to switch the sou from MP3 to live. I told you, I’m not real bright.
During the show Have staff on hand to work the crowd. My band has a team of group officers that work our shows in pairs. We pay them on salary, regardless of how many gigs we have in a given week, and they do a fantastic job of adding people to the group, promoting websites, handing out swag, and generally keeping the party going. We also make them wear red shirts, because as any Star Trek fan knows, they are the ones that get shot first. Promote the venue and other performers during your set. I can’t tell you how many shows I have been to where the performer said, “Uh...I don’t know if anyone’s on after us...”, and there are signs everywhere with a day long schedule listed. Promote the venue, their group, vote box, and tip jar twice during an hour set. Takes 2 seconds. Promote the performers that were on before you and are coming up after. Unless it’s a DJ, in which case screw’em. I’M KIDDING. Boy, tough crowd. Now you know why I get pelted with veg. Get a radar hud and say “hi” to as many people as you can. This is a no brainer. When I started playing in SL I used to cam around to say hi to everyone, usually crashing the viewer. Now it’s easy to get a radar hud that displays everyone’s name, or even better, one that’s integrated in the viewer as with third party clients like Emerald and Imprudence. I can’t overestimate the power of saying someone’s name on mic. Even a jaded bastard like me still gets a charge out of it.
After the show Be aware of the stream lag time when getting offstage. We all know there’s a lag on the stream blah blah blah, but really, think it through. When you time your brilliantly crafted set to end at the exact stroke of the second hand, you’ve already gone over by 30 seconds or more. By the time you drag your assets off stage and the next guy or gal gets up, has tip jar rezzed, and starts playing, they’ve lost 5 minutes or more. If you can see it’s just a couple minutes before the top of the hour, maybe consider winding it up rather than cramming one more tune in. “Leave’em wanting more!” they say, right? If you can stick around great. If not, thank the promoter and/or venue owner and sneak out without making a big fuss about it. There’s nothing like spending the first song of your set watching the previous act say goodbye to everyone in the room. The music business may be the red headed stepchild of the entertainment world but it’s still showbiz dammit! You don’t have to sacrifice your artistic vision to add polish to your performances. By integrating some or all of these ideas into your gig routines, you’ll also eliminate a lot of the headaches and stresses that will distract you from focusing on the important part -- actually playing. Now go crash a few sims you rockstars.
part 1
Second Life速 music history By Katydid Something
Astrin Few at Club Belle Feu, March 2005
On June 19, 2004 Sally Zapa had a party on her property in Second Life®. There were all of 19 people in attendance. At the specified time Sally entered a URL to a shoutcast media stream into the media setting of the new version of the SL viewer, 1.4, which had been released just a few days before. Jazz Guitarist Astrin Few took the stage and played his guitar and talked to the audience… and they were excited and amazed.
June 2004 - was the birth of something grand! By the end of the evening a total of 39 people who came and went from Sally’s party had been part of SL history. It was the first time Live Music was broadcast on a parcel so that a group of people could share the experience. And it was the birth of something grand! Astrin had dabbled previously with the idea of sharing his live performances with friends. “I’d be logged onto DALnet, an IRC network talking to friends in a chat channel”, Astrin explained, “and I‘d say ‘hey, I‘m playing live on this URL. Listen to me!’ and people would say ‘cool, I’m listening to blah and blah.‘ And I’d say ‘no, I mean I’m actually PLAYING my guitar and singing and talking live!”
‘Oh, cool’, folks would say, and they would NOT tune in because there was no indicator that a GROUP of people were all listening together. That indicator in real life is visual… you SEE folks listening to one thing and you join in. So, yeah, when I heard about SL, I had high hopes for SL live music.”
Astrin remembers doing a few performances this way as early as May 4, 2004.
In May 2004 Philip Rosedale, the CEO of Linden Lab, made the announcement that one of the features built into the SL Viewer 1.4 was streaming audio. Astrin Few was a physicist and was Astrin Few joined SL in April of technologically savvy so he set 2004. “The first night I was in SL, in himself up with a ShoutCast server late April, 2004, I went by Phantasie and was ready when SL Viewer 1.4 Isle and heard Feliciaa Feaver doing was released in mid June 2004. a live DJ set via Live 365; this was the standard at the time. I knew “For me, live music REALLY started immediately that I could do the in June when 1.4 came out and same with live guitar and was doing Shoutcast streams were played in so a couple days later, with a Live the viewer. IRC chat is a shared 365 account”. experience as well and a lot of SL
Lily Pad Lounge is the oldest “live music venue” surviving today is chat, but the visual (of seeing The common practice in SL was to a performer with an instrument) use Live365 to set oneself up as an allows a quicker connection to the internet radio station and broadcast. sound. And when the stream is on To hear you, other people would the parcel and plays automatically, have to download a Live365 media THAT is live music”, says Few. player, or use Winamp or iTunes, Suddenly, live music in SL was with the URL of the broadcast. an experience shared by all who It was a work-around at best. were present.
Frogg Marlowe, july 2005 Astrin was the first, and for several months the only, Live Music Performer in SL appearing weekly on Tuesday evenings at the Clementina Park stage venue. Anywhere from 8 to 35 people would put out blankets on the grass or sit on the benches in the park facing the river and listen while Astrin played his guitar and sang jazz songs. “Word spread among jazz listeners and live music fans in general, and we had a wonderful time.”
In September 2004, Flaming Moe, a saxophone player working on his masters at the University of Miami in Studio Music & Jazz, joined SL. In October, says Flaming Moe, “I searched Events for ‘jazz’ one day... and found ‘Astrin Few, Live at Clementina’. I had to check it out to see if it was some sort of joke or the real deal. Sure enough, he was streaming live at the park and sounded great. He even took requests!”
Moe friended Astrin Few and they traded notes. In November 2004 Moe became the second musician to stream a live show into SL. Astrin and Few shared a love of Jazz and became fast friends. In February 2005 Astrin, along with Moe, made history again when they performed the first “relay concert” on February 13th. Astrin (in Wisconsin) sent his guitar/vocal stream to Moe (in Miami), who added in his sax and sent the streams to their sound engineer Catja LaFollette (in Canada), who mixed it and sent the resulting composite stream out to listeners at a concert in SL (in Clyde at Clovers), hosted by Drift Monde and cua Curie. They’d practiced the song forms for a couple months. The concert was entitled “Alone Together”. A capacity crowd dressed in evening wear paid L$250 per ticket for the concert. YouTube has an original song from this historic performance at www.youtube.com /watch?v=MDcNoBcY_TE. It was Astrin Few who started the group Jazz Enthusiasts to make announcements of their shows. “Moe and I decided we should form a group and as musicians it seemed appropriate to form Jazz Enthusiasts since we were both playing jazz.
Suddenly there were a number of polished musicians and venues It took us a while to realize that we had to start with a much broader name so we created the sort of umbrella group Live Music Enthusiasts.” Musicians started taking note. Wayfinder Wishbringer began playing traditional folk music, mostly in his Elf Clan Group, and Singer Tyne, a vocalist, guitar, and keyboard player from New Hampshire, also began performing live in SL. March of 2005 brought the release of SL viewer 1.5 which included streaming video. Frogg Marlowe joined SL in June 6, 2005, about a week after his best friend, Jaycatt Nico, joined. “We grew up together—since 1st grade—he’s more like my brother than my friend”, Frogg explains. “I think I had been in SL only about a month or so. I met a guy and showed him a video of me playing a song I wrote and he helped me get set up to play. His business partner
Astrin & MoeA at the time was Drift Monde and they built the Lily Pad Lounge for me to start playing shows in.” Frogg continued, “There weren’t really any‚ live music venues at that point. Astrin played at Clementina Park and I played at LilyPad.” The Lily Pad Lounge opened in July of 2005 and has gained a reputation over the years of helping new musicians with equipment, software, and setup to be able to fulfill their dream of performing live in SL. Under the management of
Drift Monde and cua Curie, the Lily Pad is the oldest “live music venue” surviving today. It is supported by their Textures Unlimited store. In September 2005 the expanding music community participated in a benefit for Hurricane Katrina Victims. This Virtual Aid Benefit took place at the Dragon Moon sim with musicians Astrin Few, Flaming Moe, Jamba Pinkney, Opus Bridge, Singer Tyne with CDSpinner Tyne, U2 in SL, and Wayfinder Wishbringer.
Word of SL and the ability to stream live music started to be talked about on other Internet forums and gradually people with interest in music joined SL. Of note, some of the early entries included Circe Broom in August 2004, Melvin Took in November 2004, and Robbie Dingo in January 2005. They were followed by Komuso Tokugawa in March, Ham Rambler and Alazarin Mondrian in April, Frogg Marlowe, Jaycatt Nico, and Ursula Cinquetti in June, Cher Harrington in July, Vick Nilsson and Evilynda Baphomet in September, Kim Seifert, Kaklick Martin, and Sitearm Madonna in
October, Slim Warrior and Juel Resistance in November, and Takamura Keiko rounding out the year in December 2005. In January of 2006, the first music event in SL’s Dublin, titled “The Blarney Stone Cyberland Music Fest”, included Alyssa Suavage, Flaming Moe, Astrin Few, and Frogg Marlowe. January 2006 brought a faster pace to the number of musicians joining SL. Lyndon Heart joined in early January. About the 3rd week in January a number of musicians
Flaming Moe
who had become friends in the Live Music in SL Internet chat site, Paltalk, decided to had captured explore the world of SL. Cylindrian Rutabaga, Dabigdawg Cleaver, residents Foxyflwr Cure, Mel Cheeky, Neil attention and Morrison, Phishy Noodle, Russell Eponym, and Tommy Cult joined SL. really began These performers had been playing to take off! for each other in the chat rooms of Paltalk and had become familiar with the process of streaming their Music Matters Magazine will music live. Shortly after, Dimivan Ludwig, Edward Lowell, kat Vargas, continue to explore SL Live Music history in upcoming issues, and Grace McDunnough joined. including the history of venues and their owners, live music Suddenly there were a number evangelists, SL radio, and emerging of polished musicians and venues record companies, along with the at which to listen to them. Live Music in SL had captured residents technological advancements which have made Live Music in SL what it attention and really began to is today. take off!
Blues Artist Casias Falta by stiofai They say the great Bluesmen don’t hit their peak until they have spent seven decades on this planet and Detroit musician Casias Falta, AKA Paul Emery in Real Life, proves this maxim to be true. While Blues forms the solid foundation for Paul´s performance he is much more than your standard Bluesman. Paul carries a repertoire ranging from Blues classics to Folk/ Americana with some Country and Rock and Roll thrown in for good
measure, but where he really stands out is with his own compositions. These songs follow the tradition of the great American songwriters, like John Prine or even Johnny Cash, of weaving a visual narrative into an immaculately constructed musical base. I went along to hear Paul/Casias at his regular Tuesday residency at The Maritime Club in SL Belfast, an apt setting as it is based on the historic
inx Rau Belfast blues club opened in the 1960s by Van Morrison, perhaps the greatest songwriter of the last half century.
Willie Dixon with a few of his own interspersed between them. As he says, the blues is a deceptively simple art form making it extremely hard to pen an original sounding He is an engaging performer and we variation on the theme but he get not only an insight into his life in manages to pull it off with aplomb his good natured preambles but also and passion. His voice came into its some lessons on song-writing and own on his original “Yukon Jenny�, the history of American music from a story of an Alaskan gold miner the blues onwards. spending his dying moments in a He started off with a short blues hallucogenic state from the cold set including numbers from John declaring his love for the beautiful Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, and girl he had left behind.
Then we moved into his more folk based compositions. There were too many stand out compositions to detail here but the crowd got an insight into his personal history. It seems, to quote one of his songs, he was a bit of a “rake and a rambling boy” in his younger days with paeans to several old lost loves. “Strawberry Pie” deals with a ballsy chick with legs that go on forever who tells him she won´t be his “Meat and Potatoes” but she sure can be his strawberry pie and will teach him “about the obligations you
take on when you take your clothes off”. “Waiting for Lisa to leave town” is a ballad with a great story line about a New York model he just can´t shake off. Poor guy! My favourite tune in this bit was probably “City Market” where, in his introduction, he tells us about a time he was busking in the farmers market and an obviously harried and hard working housewife took some time out to sit and listen. From this brief encounter, and a cursory glance at the contents of her shopping
bags, he constructs a vivid musical portrait of her life and the dinner party she is preparing for.
performers I have heard on Second Life and I have practically seen them all.
Coming up to the end of the show we heard great versions of some classics like the Marks/Seymour standard “All Of Me”, a heartfelt version of the New Orleans classic folk song “Saint James Infirmary”, and to finish his set, a foot stomping version of “The House Of The Rising Sun”. Paul/Casias is one of the most engaging and technically proficient
I highly recommend that you check him out. He can be seen every Tuesday at The Maritime Club (http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Ansari/97/104/27) at 2pm SLT and at various live music venues in world.
Casias Falta can be seen every Tuesday at The Maritime Club at 2pm SLT
Feeling for music by Kourosh Eusebio
Artists often describe some routine in preparation for their work. There is a certain setting of the stage for creativity. Securing a place in which the mind can rest and be at play is much of the work involved. Speaking for myself, there is a method that seems to have evolved over the years. The piano synthesizer are turned on. The mixer is set, the monitors are ready, and the computer is up and quietly running. The door is closed, I have a glass of water at the ready, and I have my own space … sitting at the keys and preparing to play with the potential for interruption minimized ... Sit straight, take a deep breath, and rest … follow the contours of the breath ... thoughts float …
the basics are where mastery lies ... little more basic than the breath Following the associations of thought, I watch them settle, waiting for some clarity … raise arms … hands to keys and … music. Why write music? There are many answers posed and obviously the question is larger than I can possibly do justice. But such questions are the best type, aren’t they? In any art, there may be a desire to perform for others. There is also a worry of what may be created and what may be heard or seen. A performer can want to show off
and simultaneously fear a rebuke from audience or even self. What a delicate line to walk! Why subject oneself to such an ordeal? But we practice, and we practice diligently. It seems as if practice occurs by touching keys or strumming strings, making sounds over and over, playing for ourselves and those who may enjoy the pieces. But, these must not be the only things that happen in practice. Yes, sounds become better, sweeter, stronger, richer, wilder, more peaceful, more joyous, more raucous, entertaining ourselves and others. One learns to watch the fingers dance across the keys, listening for that something that seemingly emanates from some far away unconscious land. Still, this is not the entirety of
Most musicians and artists have had an experience where they were lost in the moment. practice. Somehow, in the process of growing more and more both detached from and immersed in the act itself, one wonders what it is that makes the music flow. What makes the art move as it does? Van Gogh claimed that the emotions would surge through him. It seems, he could barely stop painting. One article [http://www.standpointmag. co.uk/node/2508/full] noted his statement, “the emotions are so strong that one works without knowing one works.� In a span of about a decade, he created approximately 2000 drawings, paintings, and sketches. Alan Moore, a contemporary writer behind the rather macabre graphic novels such as Watchmen several issues of the Swamp Thing, among others, concisely describes the work:
“In order to be able to make it, you have to put aside the fear of failing and the desire of succeeding. You have to do these things completely and purely without fear, without desire. Because things that we do without lust of result are the purest actions we shall ever take.”
In this way, whatever practice and playing music is, it is also a practice in humility
All suggest something in the Similar comments have been made manners of desire and fear. Perhaps, by artists over the years. But, what then the creation of art suggests yet is that? How does one work without another motivation. fear and without desire? What Most musicians and artists have had would that even mean? an experience where they were lost Freud suggested that there were two in the moment. Where suddenly main “drives” - the aggressive and at the end of a song or piece of the sexual. Before and since then, music they once again wake up psychoanalysts, therapists, writers, to the world outside of that piece parents, teachers, sociologists, realizing they were in some dream archaeologists, and what-have-you, state. Looking back fondly on those have made other suggestions as moments ago where there was to what drives us. Fight-or-flight, something beautiful, one sighs … desire, passion, among others … When we first begin as artists, What of a drive for mastery? What we can succumb to desire in the of a drive for love? Attachment? Or mad dash to try to re-create those perhaps the “pleasure principle” − a moments. Try and try again … moving towards pleasure and away which notes did I press? Weren’t from pain. Numerous motivators these them? Did I remember to hit have been suggested. record?! Where is that sound? It was just here! And, the harder we try, the more elusive it becomes. SL^ripping away further and further as a desperation
setting of the stones about a fire of play. It is tending to the sounds and a caring for the self. It is repeating and mastering technique, though not to create it, but to prepare it for a time when it may be called upon. It is a SL^row carving of a river bed, the gardening of sound, and several other metaphors worth mixing. sets in - a perfume It is the art of listening and hearing quite repelling what is in the mind and in the to any muse. And then we realize the world. When that music that really moved us came and went, we music is suddenly realize that it is true: we not there for us, silly. The music were neither anxious nor wanting. is just there. In this way, whatever practice and playing music is, it is also What is practice then? a practice in humility. It is the It is a question I still turn over and acknowledgement that there is over in my mind. more to the world than our fears It is the laying of a kindling. It is the and desires. The more I learn to appreciate that, the more I think the muse decides to visit.
In this way, whatever practice and playing music is, it is also a
Kourosh Eusebio is Kourosh Dini — acclaimed Second Life performer, composer of 6 albums, author of Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents, winner of a Gold National Parenting Publications Award and the Mom’s Choice Award, and practicing psychiatrist in the Chicago area. http://kouroshdini.com/
CREATIVE CHALLENGES AND INNOVATIVE IDEAS AT UWA By Shellie Sands
The University of Western Australia (UWA), founded by Sir John Winthrop Hackett, is a leading Australian research university and has an international reputation for excellence, innovation and enterprise. A member of the Australian “Group of Eight” research universities, it is also among Australia’s leading research universities. Sitting on the banks of the Swan River, the UWA Crawley campus is the oldest in Western Australia and among the most picturesque in the nation with its grand sandstone and terracotta buildings sitting among elegant heritage-listed gardens. The UWA in SL consistes of three sims, including UWA, University of Western Australia, and WASP Land.
Those taking the machinima challenge are tasked with covering aspects of all three sims. The UWA held a machinima challenge to cover the UWA’s comprehensive presence in SL, including RL architecture, teaching, research, and arts. These are the four main elements comprising the heart of the UWA sims. The machinimas could be up to 5 minutes long, and need to be sure that the four main elements were captured. One of the goals of UWA is to create bridges between SL and RL for “prospective students, current students, staff, alumni, and the community.”
Two monthly competitions are running simultaneously through August 2010: the Imagine Challenge, and the Flagship Challenge. The Imagine Challenge focuses on arts and design while the Flagship Challenge focuses on architecture. The competitions are taking place now with prizes awarded each month. The Imagine Challenge focuses on limitless imagination. Contestants particpating in this challenge are tasked with creating something that will “take our breath away” using any form, shape, influence or medium. Awards include multiple categories. In addition to first prize, other prize awards include Best Work Displaying Western Australia, Best Non-Scripted Entry, second prize, People‘s Choice Award and the Grand Prize. All non-prize participants are to receive a share of the monthly pool, beginning with L$6,000 and increasing with donations to the tip jar in the Imagine Gallery.
The Flagship Challenge is to Design the UWA Cultural Precinct Flagship Building by capturing the essence of “creative engagement”, a model for UWA’s RL Cultural Precinct. The UWA plans to create such a building in RL in the future, to be called AXS/Lab (Art meets Science Lab). The AXS/Lab will be an “interdisciplinary, experimental collaboration between art, architecture, and science”. It will provide insights into the world we are shaping by putting a microscope on the research undertaken across
CYBERSHARK by Igor Ballyhoo
AxS LAB by Nyx Breen
Flame of Creativity by Gleman Jun the University of Western Australia. It will provide a showcase for the work of SymbioticA for the architects and designers from the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Visual Arts, the Western Australian Supercomputer Program (WASP) in Physics, Computer Science students, and others on campus who are exploring new possibilities for themselves and their communities and for those working with new and emerging technologies to shape our future”. Monthly 1st and 2nd prizes, as well as a 1st and 2nd Grand Prize, will be awarded. The intention of the AXS/Lab at UWA is to “incorporate a cinematheque, a black box performance/installation space, a science/art gallery, wet-labs, offices and teaching and presentation spaces for a range of activities across campus”. The Casey Cultural Prize is a recently added subset of the challenge. All entries for this prize will be considered
for the Imagine Challenge. Participants are encouraged to explore Western Australian historic or contemporary culture, presenting a piece demonstrating aspects of WA culture, economy, or society. Research used and explanation of entry should be included in a notecard. After a viewing of the Machinima finalists by Professor Alan Robson, Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia and Chair of the RL judging panel of the UWA Machinima Challenge, he was so impressed that he revisited the prize pool donation stand and raised the total prize pool to be presented during the winners’ announcement ceremonies from $L90,000 to $L215,000. Hosts of Machinima UWA are White Lebed and Jayjay Zifanwe.
Open Mic Directory Times listed are SL Time (PDT). Precise at printing, and updated regularily. Contact Reslez in world for submissions, corrections, questions and for advertising! reslez@mattersofmusic.com Musicmattersmagazine@gmail.com
SUNDAY Kickin Club Atlantic Time: 4 am - 7 am Run by: Kickin Monitor http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Club%20Atlantic/30/32/21
MONDAY
Your Club here TUESDAY Foxy Hollow Time: 10 am - 1 pm Run by: Terri Breen http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Smelton%20Hollow/221/250/22 U21 Global
WEDNESDAY Cafe Cassablanca
SATURDAY Kickin
Time: 1 pm - 4 am Run by: Daedalus Lemuria
Time: 6 am - 9 am Run by: Kickin Monitor
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Valtor/45/49/22
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Club%20Atlantic/29/33/21
THURSDAY
Crystal Silver
Your Club here
Time: 8 am - 10 am Run by: Sher Salmsont http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Shouldice/16/14/2775
FRIDAY
Your Club here
U21 Global Time: 1 pm - 3 pm Run by: Keko Heckroth http://slurl.com/secondlife/U21 Global%20Campus/144/220/103
Issue # 8 Mar 2010
Music Matters magazine
Metaverse Live Music Publication